Dizzee Rascal is the performing name of Dylan Mills, a grime and hip hop artist from Bow, London, born in 1984. He emerges from the UK garage scene and begins MCing on pirate radio and at raves at the age of fifteen.

Style and early career

His work combines garage MCing, conventional rap, grime and ragga, with additional influences drawn from a wide range of sounds and samples. His vocal style is distinctive and fast, and he is associated with a delivery often described as spitting. His music also draws on garage and hip hop beats, with influences that extend to metal guitars, found sounds, bass synth lines and Japanese court music.

He grows up in the East End of London in south Bow on a council estate and is raised by his single mother, who is a Ghanaian immigrant. He credits a school teacher with helping his musical development by allowing him to miss regular classes and spend time making music on school computers.

Roll Deep and grime rivalries

He is formerly a member of Roll Deep. Within the grime scene, he has a number of rivals, particularly in the Bow, East London area. One noted rival is Crazy Titch, who records a diss track titled "Just An Arsehole" using the backing track from Dizzee Rascal's "Jus A Rascal".

Albums and recognition

His debut album, Boy in da Corner, appears in 2003 and wins the Mercury Prize that year. He follows it with Showtime in 2004 and Maths + English in 2007, and all three albums receive critical acclaim. Tongue n' Cheek follows in 2009 and goes platinum in the UK after selling more than 300,000 copies.

He releases The Fifth in 2013 and receives an honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the University of East London in the same year. Raskit appears in 2017 and includes songs that return to the grime sound of his earlier records. His later studio albums include E3 AF in 2020 and Don't Take It Personal in 2024.

Collaborations and commercial work

Dizzee Rascal works with Beck on a remix of "Hell Yes". He also has endorsement deals with the urban brand Ecko and designs his own shoe with Nike.

Selected discography

Studio albums: Boy in da Corner, Showtime, Maths + English, Tongue n' Cheek, The Fifth, Raskit, E3 AF, Don't Take It Personal.

Notable single: "Dance Wiv Me" reaches number one in the UK in 2008.